New alcohol research shows nearly a quarter of people in Wales do not drink – and the number of teetotallers across Great Britain has risen.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 23% of Welsh adults do not drink alcoholic beverages, with Wales last year having a higher share of teetotallers than Scotland (21%) or England (20%).

Only half (50%) of people in Wales said they drank in the past week, compared with 53% in Scotland and nearly six out of 10 (58%) in England.

Teetotallers made up just 19% of the 16-24 age group in 2005 but by last year this had soared to 22.8%. Overall, people in this age bracket were less likely to drink than any other, Wales Online has revealed.

Welsh footballer Gareth Bale made headlines in 2010 when he revealed he had not touched alcohol since his parents gave him a drink one Christmas.

He said: “I don’t avoid drinking because I worry it’s going to hurt me or anything like that.

“And I have no problem with players who do have a drink. It’s a personal choice and I respect that. I just don’t like the taste. That’s simply how it is.”

Marc Thomas, 30, who runs Cardiff-based polling company Doopoll, has never felt pressure to drink.

He said: “I haven’t ever drunk. It wasn’t really a conscious choice to not drink – it’s just that I wasn’t really in environments where people were drinking when I was growing up.

“My wife also doesn’t drink – so that probably helps. I haven’t ever really found it a limiting factor socially except when it’s my turn to buy a round of drinks at the bar and everyone refuses to let me because they’ve just bought me soda and lime all evening.

“There are a lot of upsides to this: I don’t get hungover, my weight doesn’t fluctuate and I don’t feel like the living dead at my desk on a Monday morning.”

Carwyn Tywyn, a 43-year-old harpist and dad of two from Burry Port, quit drinking just over three years ago and now participates in Club Soda, an organisation which helps people take control of their alcohol intake.

He said: “I came to a decision very suddenly just over three years ago. I’d been made redundant, actually, and was in a position where I wanted to focus on the practical things that I had to deal with.”

Mr Tywyn said it was “one-off occasions” when he would “tend to come a cropper, start singing or crying – one or the other”.

Social pressure

A key factor why people find it difficult to ditch drinking, he said, is social pressure.

“It’s a huge barrier for people. There does seem to be that social stigma and it’s quite a sad reflection that people have to go through these emotional hoops before taking that decision.

“That’s why groups like Club Soda are excellent because you’ve got a support group there. But it’s a sad indictment that people have to worry – or feel that they have to worry – about what their friends will think.”

He enjoys the clarity that comes with the teetotal life, saying: “Life is tough for everybody in a different way but at least you’re approaching your problems without that extra burden of carrying a hangover.”

Saleem Kidwai of the Muslim Council for Wales is a teetotaller and has grown used to declining alcohol at business dinners.

He now finds there are likely to be other people at a table who are not drinking and considers the growth of coffee shops as an alternative to pubs as a “very positive sign”.

Mr Kidwai aid: “A lot of pubs have become coffee houses now. I think very soon coffee shops will overtake the pubs.”

He reckons that just as smoking has declined people are now turning away from alcohol.

He said: “In my time there never used to be so many gyms and so much health consciousness. Times are changing.”

The only part of the population in Great Britain for whom not drinking has become less popular is the 65-plus age group, where the share of teetotallers has fallen from 29.4% in 2005 to 24.2% in 2017.

According to the ONS, this is largely explained due to changes in the drinking habits of older women.

It states: “Of women aged 65 years and over, 37.2% reported not drinking at all in 2005; in 2017, this figure was just 27.9%.”

Not everyone stops drinking when they get pregnant. Across Great Britain, fewer than six out of 10 expecting mums (57%) were teetotal.

Britain’s non-white population is most likely to avoid alcohol. Only 15.8% of whites were teetotal, compared with 50.6% of people from other backgrounds.

The Royal Wedding

Andrew Misell of Alcohol Concern Cymru said it was “great” that more people had the confidence not to drink.

He said: “These new figures do suggest that quite a lot of people in Wales are avoiding alcohol, or only drinking it occasionally. We don’t particularly advocate giving up alcohol altogether, but if that’s what people want or need to do, it’s great to see that more people have the confidence to do that.”

But he acknowledged the pressure people can come under to buy booze.

He said: “There is still quite a bit of pressure to have alcohol when you’re out socialising. A lot of us will have felt that pressure from friends or colleagues from time to time.

“There’s also a year-round push from the drinks industry – producers and supermarkets – to make every big occasion a drinking occasion. We’re all familiar with the stacks of booze front-of-store in the major retailers at Christmas.

“We’re seeing something similar around Easter and Halloween now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big drive to get us to stock up on alcohol for the Royal wedding in a few weeks.”

The research shows that higher paid people in managerial and professional positions are more likely to drink regularly.

Nearly four in five (78.9%) of those earning £40,000 said they drank alcohol in the previous week. This was true for almost seven out of 10 (69.5%) people in managerial and professional jobs, compared with 51.2% of routine and manual workers.

Minimum alcohol pricing could be on the way to Wales

The findings have been published as minimum pricing for alcohol comes into force in Scotland.

The law was passed back in 2012 but has faced years of legal challenges.

A two-litre bottle of strong cider will now cost a minimum of £7.50, and the price of own-brand whisky, vodka and gin will go up by up to £3 a bottle.

A Bill to introduce minimum pricing in Wales is working its way through the Assembly and could be in force by summer next year.